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Copyright

Entwistle on Copyright

I have been remiss in not calling attention to a speech last week to the Chamber of Commerce from Telus CEO Darren Entwistle. While competitors such as Bell and Rogers stay silent on the sidelines, Telus is emerging as a leading industry voice for a copyright policy that encourages innovation, compensation for artists, and full respect for consumer rights. It is not everyday that the CEO of a major Canadian company says "lastly, and perhaps most importantly, it is time to update our copyright regime" and then proceeds to outline a vision that focuses on robust fair use rather than dangerous anti-circumvention legislation.

Given their importance, Entwistle's copyright comments merit a full quote:

October 25, 2006 — 8 comments — News

CRIA Loses Judicial Review of Copyright Board Decision

The Federal Court of Appeal has rejected a CRIA judicial review request of a Copyright Board decision that required it to notify its (shrinking) list of Class "B" members of its decision to no longer represent them in the CSI online music tariff.

October 25, 2006 — 2 comments — News

CBC Q&A on Copyright

The CBC has posted a brief (and somewhat incoherent) interview I did on copyright in the wake of the SCC's Robertson decision.

October 24, 2006 — Comments are Disabled — News

Conference Podcasts and Videos

A couple of relatively recent conferences appearances have just been posted online – Mesh Conference has a podcast version of my keynote address, while the Future of Music has posted a video of my panel on DRM (podcast versions are apparently on the way).

October 24, 2006 — Comments are Disabled — News

Survey Finds Declining P2P Usage in Canada

The Copyright Board of Canada conducted hearings today on the private copying levy. Included as part of the evidence was a major survey (not online at the moment) on music copying conducted for the Canadian Private Copying Collective (CPCC) by Reseau Circum. The CPCC, which counts CRIA General Counsel Richard Pfohl as one of its board members, has tracked music copying habits since 2001-02.

The headliner in the latest survey is that file sharing activity is in steady decline in Canada. The survey, conducted in June 2006, finds that just 14 percent of Canadians have downloaded music in the last 12 months, down from 15 percent in 2005, 19 percent in 2004, 21 percent in 2003, and 21 percent in 2002. It goes without saying that this finding comes despite the absence of lawsuits, the absence of copyright reform, and the continual (yet questionable) claims that Canada is a world leader in file sharing.

October 24, 2006 — 12 comments — News